The present invention relates to materials using strips of real or artificial fur. It also relates to products using such materials.
Products using real or artificial fur materials come in various types and sizes. As is known, real fur can be obtained from several kinds of animals including foxes, rabbits, minks, etc. Among these, mink fur is very popular for fabricating garments for example.
Unfavorably, a single mink may be able to provide only a small amount of fur which is insufficient to make a desired garment. For example, an overcoat is a rather large garment, the fabrication of which may require many minks. In such an instance, pieces of fur material obtained from a certain number of minks may first be cut into a suitable shape, and then sewn together, to make the final product.
Unfavorably, the conventional mink coat tends to be rather heavy and look monotonous (hence too conservative) since many fur pieces of the same kind are used.
Further, the fabrication of the conventional coat requires every piece of fur material to be larger than a certain minimum standard. However, it is not always easy to prepare such fur material in sufficient quantities.
One conventional way to address the above problems is as follows. First, raw fur is cut into a number of strips. Then, the obtained fur strips are put together to provide a secondary raw material from which a final product is obtained.
Specifically, JP-U-61(1986)-155384, JP-A-64(1989)-45836 and JP-A-1(1989)-213432 teach that a strip of fur material is woven with another strip of fur or non-fur material to produce a secondary raw material. Likewise, JP-U-No. 3027596 teaches that a strip of fur material and a string of wool are knitted to provide a secondary raw material.
JP-A-5(1993)-171551, JP-A-6(1994)-81000 and JP-U-No.3008585 teach that a strip of fur material is intertwined with a net-like base.
JP-U-57(1982)-74953 teaches an alternate arrangement of fur strips and elastic cloth strips. These two kinds of strips are sewn together to provide a secondary raw material. Besides this, JP-U-57-74953 teaches a checkerboard arrangement of rectangular fur strips and rectangular elastic cloth. Again, these strips are sewn together to provide a secondary raw material.
The above-mentioned JP-A-5-171551 reference discloses that the net-like base is made of polyester thread, while JP-A-6-81000 discloses that the net-like base is made of mixed-spun thread of hemp and rayon. It should be noted here that both the polyester thread and the hemp-rayon thread are substantially non-elastic material.
The conventional secondary raw materials described above have been found disadvantageous in the following respects.
The above secondary raw materials, except the ones disclosed in JP-U-57-74953, are fundamentally of non-elastic nature. (Of course, they cannot be completely rigid, and are prone to slight distortion upon application of a stretching force). Thus, when the conventional materials are used for making clothing such as vests, sweaters, etc., the final products (i.e., vests, sweaters, etc.) should be considerably large for allowing the wearers to easily put on or take off them. However, these unduly large garments are uncomfortable to wear and may give an unattractive appearance. Consequently, the value of the garments as commercial commodities may be degraded.
On the other hand, when use is made of the materials disclosed in JP-U-57-74953, the resulting garments may fit the wearers very well However, the conventional technique requires the weaving of many fur materials and elastic cloth pieces, which may take a great deal of time and labor, thereby reducing the productivity. In addition, the woven parts of the garments are relatively weak and therefore liable to split when an external force is exerted. The problems of lowered productivity and reduced strength may be aggravated when the fur strips and the elastic cloth pieces are made smaller in width. (For aesthetic purposes, the widths of each fur strip and each cloth piece are preferably as small as possible, so that the elastic cloth and the skin of the fur strip are entirely hidden in the hair of the fur.
Another problem may occur in using the conventional fur strips. When a winter coat (or other heavy winter clothes as well) is made of non-fur material such as wool, a fur accessory may often be attached to e.g. the collar, the cuffs, the hood, or the hem of the coat. Preferably, the accessory is removable, so that the wearer can replace one accessory with another depending upon the weather or any other condition. Specific means for achieving such a replaceable arrangement may be a combination of buttons attached to the coat and cooperative button holes formed in the fur accessory. Disadvantageously, when the fur accessory is made of a conventional non-elastic fur material, the removal or attachment easiness of the accessory will conflict with the stability of the accessory. Specifically, when the button holes of the accessory are made large enough for facilitating the attachment or removal of the accessory, the accessory may accidentally come off the buttons rather readily. On the other hand, when the button holes of the accessory are made small enough to reliably prevent the accidental come-off of the accessory, the wearer may find it difficult to pass the buttons on the coat through the button holes of the accessory.
The present invention has been proposed under the circumstances described above. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a fur material which does not suffer from the above-described conventional problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide products using such an advantageous fur material. Examples of products may be xe2x80xa2 clothing such as sweaters, vests, jackets, overcoats or gowns xe2x80xa2 accessories for clothing, such as collar trims, cuff trims or hem trims xe2x80xa2 personal items for keeping warm or decoration, such as mufflers, shawls, leg warmers, wrist bands, arm warmers, belts, lap robes, hats or gloves xe2x80xa2 bedding such as blankets or Japanese futon xe2x80xa2 toys or entertaining items such as stuffed animals or animal costumes xe2x80xa2 containers such as bags or pouches, and accessories for such containers.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fur material comprising: an elastic base having an obverse surface and a reverse surface; and a fur strip including hair covering at least either one of the obverse and the reverse surfaces. The fur strip is attached to the base in a manner allowing the base to be stretchable.
The elastic base may be expandable only in one direction or in more directions.
According to a preferred embodiment, the elastic base comprises an elastic net including warps and wefts, wherein at least one of the warps and the wefts is elastic. The fur strip is wound around at least one of the warps and the wefts in a manner causing the hair to extend outward.
According to another preferred embodiment, the elastic base comprises an elastic net including warps and wefts to form meshes, wherein at least one of the warps and the wefts is elastic. The fur strip alternately passes through the meshes without winding around the warps nor the wefts.
Preferably, the fur material may further comprise a piece of elastic cloth attached to an edge of the net.
According to a preferred embodiment, the elastic base comprises a piece of elastic cloth
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product comprising: a first portion; and a second portion connected to the first portion. The first portion comprises a fur material including: an elastic base having an obverse surface and a reverse surface; and a fur strip including hair covering at least either one of the obverse and the reverse surfaces, wherein the fur strip is attached to the base in a manner allowing the base to be stretchable.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a piece of clothing comprising: a main body made of a non-fur material and provided with a button; and an accessory attached to the main body by the button. The accessory is made of a fur material which comprises an elastic net and a fur strip attached to the elastic net in a manner allowing the net to be stretchable. The net includes a plurality of meshes one of which is engaged with the button of the main body.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an accessory for clothing, wherein the clothing is provided with a button. The accessory comprises: an elastic net; and a fur strip attached to the elastic net in a manner allowing the net to be stretchable. The net includes a first row of meshes and a second row of meshes, wherein the first row is used for engagement with the fur strip, and the second row is used for engagement with the button of the clothes.